001[Music] Greetings to all of you on this beautiful evening. We're thankful for the rain that we have received and on behalf of our board and our superintendent, Dr. Lasser, we gladly welcome you to our May meeting. To all who are viewing tonight, we thank you for tuning in to our meeting. At this time, I call our meeting to order and let the record reflect that eight board members are present. Justin Eastwood is excuse absent on tonight. At this time, we will stand and have our pledge by Dr. Hawk and she would also give us our moment of silence. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Sure. I I'd just like to reserve
002a few moments of silence for whatever intentions are weighing on your heart. Thank you. Are there any adjustments to the agenda? Move that we approve the agenda. Second. Second. Any discussion? All in favor of approving the agenda, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Spotlight on learning. Beth, good evening. Chair Trip, board members, Dr. Lasker, and those that are here in attendance tonight. We have some exciting spotlights for you. And we're going to start off with our CTE technology student association. And this is Cali Beach, our director of career and technical education, to introduce these students from Aiden Middle School. Good evening board. Um, as we met with you guys last week, we shared some of our CTSOs that had been to their state competition and recognized students who had placed first place. And so, literally
003the few days before that board meeting, um, our techn TSA technology student association was in Greensboro competing. So, we saved them for the month of May to recognize them for their great achievements at that conference. So, I'm going to turn it over to Jason Wade, who is their adviser at Aiden Middle School. Hey, good evening. Good evening. Uh, so this is the fourth year in a row we've won a small chapter of the year. Um, you can see all the trophies we received. Um, so tonight we have we had uh let's see, one, two, three, we had about six or seven first place winners, but due to athletic events with school, uh, they couldn't make it. So, the two we have with us tonight, um, Ruth Anne Everett, she came in first place for career
004prep and Faith Ray, she came in first place for prepared speech. Wow. Awesome. And we'll be attending We'll be attending Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee, uh, June 27th through July 1st. on behalf of the board. We are proud of you and it's the fourth time. You said this for the fourth time. Fourth time we want to smoke this year. That's good. And uh we know that you put a lot of effort in. We know you've done wonderful job also. And uh this is presented to P County Board of Education recognizes a middle school TSA for creating excellence in the East and we uh appreciate what you do. Thank you. Appreciate it. You guys see Ruthanne proud of you. Nobody proud. There you go. And we're proud of you. In fact, we're proud of both of you
005as well as the whole team. We also are proud of you. Thank you. I know you know the school is the community represent community also. Thank you a lot. We're going to get a picture. Yes, we sure are. And parents, please come in so you can get a photo as well. You can slide that way just a little bit. Which one had the prepared public speech? What was your speech on? Violence. What? Oh, wow. Be careful. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Next, we have Dr. Taylor Matkins, our assistant superintendent of school leadership, and he is going to recognize our principal scholars and principal fellows. Good afternoon, board. Um, I'm excited to introduce I'm going to let them come on in here. two groups of fantastic individuals here. Y'all come on in. There you go.
006So, we have two groups that we would like to uh recognize tonight. Um the first group is our principal scholars. Uh these individuals have been working part-time on their masters of school administration degree while also working uh in their full-time job. We also have our group of uh principal fellows that for the past uh two years they have been interning as a school administrator in different buildings. So our principal scholars we have Miss Sarah Pierce and Mr. Matt Daniel. Uh and then our principal fellows, excuse me, Sarah Pierce has been working uh in our EC district office and also been working in other schools uh such as South Greenville to get some experience there. Matt Daniel has been working at Sug Bundy to get his experience. We also have u Mr. Branley Barrow. He's been
007working uh at Chicago. We have Miss Kayla Edwards at South Greenville Elementary. We have Mr. William Keys, North Pit High School. We have Mr. Aaron Speeds, uh CMS, and Miss Tanisha Pow Holloway uh have been working at CMS as well. So, let's give them a round of applause. Uh for those of you that do not know, they've been working tirelessly for two years doing a full-time job while also going to school. Uh and that is a feat within itself. Um but we're also looking at our future administrators here in Pig County as well. So we're excited about the talent uh that we have before us and can't wait to see the great things that they're going to do in the future as well. On behalf of our board, we appreciate all that you're doing and
008it's very commendable that you continue learning. Two years still working full time is very commendable. We really appreciate what you're doing to make it better for all of our students and for yourself. We congratulate you on doing that. Thank you. Thank you. Kayla Edwards last name Sarah Pierce and Bentley basketball you will turn and face Mr. Make sure it's facing the right way. It's not upsetting. Stand up on the stand up on the step. You be really tall. [Laughter] Mr. I did. Thank y'all so much. Congratulations. Thank you. I also failed to mention that their principles are just as important as the work that they put in. So, we do want to thank uh Mr. Robbie Johnson at Sug Bundy. Uh, Miss Don Hester with the EC District Office. Uh, Mr. Maurice Harris with North
009Pitt. Uh, Miss Allison Cington with South Greenville. Miss uh, Kim Harris with CMS. And also Dr. Hayes with Chicago. Thank you for just uh, mentoring those individuals and providing them support along the way as well. Thank you. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. They wear capes. They wear tenny shoes. And we have a very special hero. And if you did not get to see the crowd that congregated tonight out front for this spectacular teacher, Carol Carson, um you missed a treat because it was certainly a heartwarming moment to see the the Bears of Elmharst absolutely show such a display of love and affection for Carol Carson. And so I invite Miss Megan Newman to share a few words about Miss Carson. Hello. Hello. They should come in. Yeah. Yeah. Come in. Okay. I am
010honored to be asked to speak to you all tonight in celebration in honor of our coach Carson. She is one of the outstanding PE teachers at Elmherst. In late February, there was an accident in the Elmherst carline involving Coach Carson and one of our students, Kennedy. Coach Carson made the decision to push Kennedy as far as she could out of harm's way, likely saving his life while placing herself at a greater risk of serious injury. We are so thankful for her standing here with us today and are grateful beyond words for her quick thinking and her bravery. [Applause] Carson, our students at Elmer, my wife included, knew that they are so welcome and safe with you before this happened. Um, and we have been a hero of Elmer for you. We cannot wait. We are
011ready for you back. Um, Friday's teaser students are now we will be ready for you and so you're here so you're here and we love [Applause] you Thank you. You're excellent. Thank you. Three, two, [Applause] as we gather here for this board meeting and we celebrate Teacher appreciation week. Let us take a moment to pause, not just to recognize, but to truly honor the heart and soul of our community, our teachers. This week across Pit County and beyond, families, students, and businesses are lifting up our teachers with messages of thanks, tokens of appreciation, warm embraces of gratitude. But no gift, no card, no words can fully capture the depth of what our teachers do every single day. As we just witnessed, our educators are the quiet heroes that plant the seeds in the minds of
012children, never knowing which one will bloom into a breakthrough, a dream fulfilled, or a life transformed. They are the steady voices in uncertain times, the encouraers when doubt creeps in. and the architects of hope who build not just knowledge but character and confidence in our children. They do this in classrooms, in hallways, on playgrounds and afterchool programs and sometimes with nothing more than just a kind word and a listening ear. They rise early, stay up late, and give more than they've ever been asked to give. Not because it's easy, but because they believe in the promise of every single child. In a world that often moves too fast, our teachers remain rooted in purpose. They remind us that all education is not just about reading and math. It's about nurturing potential, creating belonging, and lighting
013the way forward. To every educator in Pit County, we see you, we celebrate you, and we thank you. Not just this week, but always. Your work ripples far beyond the walls of any school. You are shaping the future of a community one child at a time. And to the community members, the families, and the students that joined us this week in celebration, thank you for recognizing what we already know, that teachers are the heart of it all. So, happy teacher appreciation week. May you feel honored, uplifted, and deeply appreciated for the difference that you make every single day. We also want to celebrate our nurses. And I could say all of those things about our nurses as well. And we're going to invite Sarah English, who is way down the hallway. You see, there she
014is. To bring all of our school nurses that were able to attend tonight. And we are so fortunate to have these nurses in our schools to take care of our children. This is Sarah English, director of student services, executive director of student services. The nurses are making their way. We have a wonderful showing of our school nurses here tonight. We'll crowd in. Good evening. We're very excited to be here this after this evening. Um behind me I have a team of our amazing school nurses that work for Pit County Schools. Um, these wonderful ladies are in our schools every single day making sure that kids are ha happy, healthy, safe, working to remove barriers. Um, the reason we're honoring them this week is it is National School Nurse Week. Um, National School Nurse Day on
015Wednesday. So, we wanted to celebrate and honor all of our nurses, but we're very grateful that all of you could come. Um, so just a little bit about nurses in Pit County Schools. We have 25 nurses that serve all of our schools. That includes three nurse extenders. Um, and Lori Reid, our school nurse manager, is going to share just a little bit of information about some uh an amazing award, not award, recognition that three of our nurses recently um were given. Okay, my turn. Yay. Hi. Thank you for having us this evening. So, I just wanted to talk with you a little bit about our national school nurse certification. And we are so very fortunate in our county that we have so many um nationally certified school nurses. Um we actually just had three that
016recently um were able to pass their certification exam. And I just wanted to tell you a little bit about this because um it's it's really quite an accomplishment and we're just really really proud of these um these women that have done this. So the nationally certified school nurse credential reflects competence and professionalism. To earn the specialty certification, a registered nurse must demonstrate a high level of education, clinical practice, experience, and knowledge. The rigorous credentiing process sets the professional standard for school nursing across the nation. Amy Prien, Kendra Floyd, and Meredith Kennedy have successfully obtained their national school nurse certification, demonstrating their expertise in their profession, and they just did that in the last couple months. So, congratulations to these three nurses. You ready? So, we have um a small token of appreciation from the board
017of education and I'll read your name and nurse Trip will hand you your certificate your chief nurse trip. Chief nurse trip. There we go. We're gonna add it to your list of titles. All right. So, Wendy Kaiser, [Music] Lisa Harrison, Erica Turner, Rachel Parkerson, Lisa Fleming, right up front. Thank you, Michelle Pascoric. You got it. Cynthia Ferry, Sierra Smith, Lori Reed, hiding over here. Sorry about that. Thank you, Celeste Kirby. Kendra Floyd, Leslie MacArthur, Meredith Kennedy, Ashley Bryant, and Tammy Hudson. On behalf of our board, half of our superintendent, thank you nurses for doing what you do. You're on the front line as far as I'm concerned. We at the board know that we need more. We're trying to get more nurses. You are very strongly supported by the board. We want you to know
018that we're behind you 100%. Thank you so much. I'm trying to stay tall. Mhm. Squish. Stay tall. Stay in the middle. Three, two, one. [Applause] Yes. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good work, Chairman. At this time we have our public expressions work. This evening we have four individuals and one group uh offering public expression. And public expression is an opportunity to share issues of concern that are relevant to the business of the board. The board will listen to your comments respectively and our chair may offer some direction if our rules are not being followed but the board will not respond to your comments. Only speakers who have signed up for public expression may address the board. When a speaker speaker's time expires, you must end your remarks and step away from
019the podium. If a speaker is not present when his or her name is called, the opportunity to speak will be considered waved. And during this uh time period, you may hear someone share a viewpoint with the board that you do not agree with. We do not censor speech by viewpoint and we do not permit our audience to express approval or disapproval for a viewpoint expressed. The time is for the individual speaking to address the full board. The board does not permit uh speakers to name a staff member or student when offering praise or criticism. And we also do not permit comments that are irrelevant to our business which includes attacks on individuals for something in their personal lives or the discussion of board members, family members. Again, the board members will listen to your comments
020respectively and our chair may offer some direction if the rules are not followed, but we will not respond to your comments. And at this time we will hear from our first speaker and that is Jessica. Is it Jessica Ford? You have three minutes. Thank you. Wrote a few things down. I'm Dr. Jessica Ford. I'm a psychologist and a very proud parent of a student at Wintergreen. I came here today on teacher and staff appreciation week to express my immense gratitude for the faculty and staff and administration who support them um in Pit County schools. My son faces a lot of adversity because of a rare genetic condition which makes most of u what we take for granted very difficult for him. He is also a very fun-loving, happy child and he's been flourishing um in
021first grade with the support of his teachers and therapists. Before we enrolled him in Pit County schools, he went to a few different local private schools. My first experiences of heartbreak at my child being excluded because of his differences were um related to these experiences. Some were gentler than others, saying, "It's just not a right fit. You know, we don't have the resources to support him." Others were a lot more callous. I've cried more tears worrying about my son being included and others being able to have the gift of knowing him than over any other thing in my life. This past year, I've gone into every IEP meeting expecting to have to go to battle for him to have access to education. Every single time the IEP team has helped me remove that armor, it
022is very clear that they love my son and that they think of him as a whole person. Every assessment is done thoughtfully. Every um with with nuanced understanding of his rights and needs and a consideration of what we hope for him as parents. I've been so impressed by the passion and kindness of our teachers and staff, but just as important by their training and experience. Thank you and all you do to support them to recruit and retain a diverse body of staff and therapists who appreciate diversity in our in our students. Thank you for doing everything you can to ensure that they have appropriate training and certifications to ensure they are not overwhelmed with large class sizes and that they have access to the resources including a wide range of literature to develop their curriculum.
023Thank you for trusting our teachers and staff. I do. [Applause] And next we have Lindsay price and you have three minutes. Hello. Um, I want to thank the board for allowing me to speak this evening. My name is Lindseay Price and I'm a mother to a beautiful four-year-old boy who will be attending public school here in Pit County. I confess that I've worried what his experience will be. I've looked at recent legislation and the efforts to remove limits on classroom size, reduce the percentage of licensed teachers, and censor what our children read. It's disheartening to think that the books I read and studied could be unavailable to my son. Tonight, however, I want to share my love for what I've seen at the speaking tour, the programs that are held by our music therapist, and
024the hard work of the educators within our schools. The speaking tour that I attended in my school district showed me the thoughtfulness and care that our county has to offer our children. I could see the care that our teachers have and their desire for every child to grow, learn, and become a wonderful human being. At the board meeting in March, I got to learn more about music therapy and the different ways it has been able to enhance the lives of all students. I want my son to love learning. I want him to be resilient. I want him to care about not just himself, but also about his community and his peers. I'm fortunate that I was able to attend one of the many school tours that were held in our our county. It was during
025one of these tours that I got to meet the folks who will have a hand in shaping my son's education. I was proud of the knowledge, hard work, and love that I saw in every educator's eyes. My son is so excited to go to big kids school. I hope as we move forward as a community that we can continue to advocate for all children, that we continue to work toward a world that allows all children to grow and succeed, no matter the challenges they may face. I look forward to working with all of you as you do the most important work that could ever exist, growing our future. Public schools hold the teachers, the doctors, the leaders, the social workers, the artists, and more of the future. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank
026you. And next we have Michael Tan. You have three minutes. Hi, I'm Michael Tan. I'm new to the district. We've been here for less than a year. And be honest, this is my first school board meeting. I came here prepared to be adamant about a certain topic. And what I've seen tonight has really changed the tone of my speech. I saw on your agenda the elimination of DEI and I'm see ethical moral people at this board in the audience. That DEI is how we get together as Americans. I grew up with that whole melting pot thing childhood the 60s. The melting pot was utterly boulderdash. All you learned about was white guys in history and what they did. You didn't learn about uh Christmas attire more men to start the American Revolution. You didn't learn
027about all these other aspects of America. We need to continue to do that. Our children need to see more than just white men leading this country. And I really firmly believe that we need to keep DEI in hiring practices. We need to keep DEI and how we do things, in the literature that we read, in what we show our kids. My oldest is a transgender girl. She's currently in college in California. And you don't see children like her, she's actually young adults like her being supported across this country. They're being targeted. There are eight transgender athletes in high schools across the country in total. We've lost over 300 high school kids in this country to measles this year. We've got to get off of this picking people out of out of the crowd to make
028them feel less and pull them in together. And what I've seen in this board is this is what you guys do. And I really don't understand why DEI removal is even on your agenda. If it's from powers above you, this is the time where we can do the right thing. We can be moral and ethical and keep DEI in our schools, in our classrooms, in our curriculum, or we can cave to folks that want to erase what's great about America. Thank you. [Applause] Okay, next we have Deborah Jackson. And you have three minutes. Good evening everyone. Um, my name is Deborah Jackson and I live in Greenville. I am a career educator. I've spent 25 years working in public education. I am here today because um I saw on the agenda under new business that
029there were several policies that were going to be revised and one in particular that was going to be rescended and I came to express my uh disappointment and opposition to some of the changes that are proposed uh on the agenda as new business. One in particular is the rescending of the policy 1705, the commitment to diversity that was adopted on September 21st of 2015. And what I have to say about this is has to do with the title of this particular policy, in particular the word commitment. When Pit County passed adopted this policy, um it did so as a commitment to the community, to children, um and to our world and future. And my belief is that a commitment is not something that you hold and follow when it is easy. And if you're married,
030you know what I'm talking about. A commitment is something that you hold on to even when it's hard in the face of challenges. To do so, to be committed and to have integrity means to follow through on those commitments even when it's hard. And I understand as an educator who is facing many of the same pressures and challenges that you are, how difficult it is as an educational leader to lead with integrity and to hold on to our commitments when the consequences of doing so are unknown. But our community and our children need you to be courageous and to stand up for the commitment that you made in 2015. That commitment was not one to hold on to for 10 years and then to abandon when things got hard. You made that commitment and I
031ask that you continue to honor it for our entire community and nation. Thank you. [Applause] And now we have Julie Andrews and you have five minutes. You're representing a group Thank you everyone and uh good evening and happy May. Um what I'm about to talk about um I won't take much of your time. It's actually questions I had for just going around the community and talking to business people, talking to um family members and uh parents. So, and this has to do with technology and cursive writing and the effects it has on us and pos both positive and negative. So, first of all, um I've been talking like I said to numerous parents, grandparents and persons in general and what I'm hearing is twofold. The effects of technology with computers and the lessening presence of
032instruction and cursive writing. Um, first we all should be aware of the techn technological usage concerns on our children's health, which I'm sure there's people in this room that know a heck of a lot more than I ever will. Um, I'm just being the heralder. Okay. Um, so specifically cognitive development. Um, in NIH.gov gov there's a lengthy read on that incorporates multiple multiple studies but the primary results are conclusive we see negative effects with attention deficit like an ADHD and whatnot executive function problem solving skills and social social cognition of course this starts at home with parents who have to have structural limitations and that can be quite tough because even with when kids are on these tablets and whatnot. We've we've even heard about it years ago where all of a sudden, you know,
033you've um restricted their usage and they go ballistic. So, that just goes to show you to a degree how it's affecting their brains. Um we as a whole cannot control this, but as a school district, we can and should. Unfortunately, tech is both a means of cognitive enhancement and an impediment. With our youngest students being K through elementary, it's important to structure the time with technology. And it's proven that prolonged screen time, I think we all know, is correlated with attention deficit, reducing academic performance, and weakening social interacting abilities and even behavioral issues. As I mentioned, from a neurohysiological standpoint, early interaction with devices significantly influences neural plasticity. The brain's capacity to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. This isn't just a temporary thing. This is throughout life. Neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors,
034which is the release of dopamine. Dopamine over time can contribute to habit forming behaviors just like an an addict. It actually can have that type of effect. So the increase in dopamine activity can affect the child's ability to regulate attention, impair executive function with preffrontal cortex. These are key areas used for decision making and cognitive control. This BDNF which stands for brain deprived neural factor which is a protein that supports neuron growth and synaptic activity leads to reduction in neural circuits in deep focus thinking and attention. Even the Chinese government is controlling how much tech time children are permitted. And I'm sure it's probably with their smartest students. I don't know. But I I've read on it and how much exposure while we educators utilize utilize Chromebooks etc in early years at the same time
035we will see a potential reduction in attention span duration and escalation and task switching. It's here sadly what is the remedy? Well oftentimes what do we see? We see parents running to the doctor the teacher saying your kid can't pay attention. I think they have ADD or ADHD. the doctor prescribes chemical drug and here we are and there are studies out there that have proven the younger you are given a drug the more apt you will have a drug usage problem through adult life not everyone but it's there um so I have 25 seconds with this a bit of information we begin to understand the importance of our children utilizing in their five senses, which is god-given, and uh playtime and whatnot. I'm talking specifically with our earlier kids, our younger children. Um we can
036get on to cursive writing benefits, fine motor skills, enhances memory, learning, dyslexia, has a calming effect, and that there is a law in North Carolina that three, four, and five grades must pass cursive writing, and it really is a big benefit. Thank you. Thank you. Thank all of you for coming on tonight. vote. This time we'll look at our consent items, board meetings, April the 7th, April 28th, our proposed and local budget letter supplement and state supplements, our 2025 AIG plan, solution tree contract, the 2024 update testing plan, after school grant expenditures, And also our April 7th close session minutes, April 28th special call session minutes personnel report which listed five contracts. The motion to for our consent items. Any questions? All in favor say motion lady been on by raising your right hand. Thank
037you. New business call on Hudson our attorney. Oh, it's not there. Well, board members, before you there are uh proposed um revisions uh for first reading to several policies. Our existing operational practices are in line with federal law and recent dear colleague letters from the US Department of Education. Uh but language in these policies could be construed to be out of alignment with that recent federal guidance. As a result, the North Carolina School Boards Association has recommended changes to our policies and I will note that nearly $30 million in federal funding is at stake. So that is why these changes have been recommended. Again, we do not believe that our operational practices will be disrupted much, but the changes, the language in the policies does invite uh federal scrutiny and is likely not in alignment
038with with the recent guidance. Uh having noted that this first reading they will come on for second reading I believe unless there are additional updates I believe is part of your consent agenda for your next meeting. Thank you to our board. If there are any uh changes to the policy please make our attorney aware of that before June the second. Thank you. At this time we have comments from our superintendent. All right. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair, and good evening to everyone. Um so thankful tonight for uh hearing uh from the public as well as seeing our staff and our students this evening. Um we are very proud um of um Coach Carson and Kennedy. Uh seeing them tonight was just touching and heartwarming. uh our prayers are with them as they continue to recover.
039Um we're just so thankful um that they were able to be here with us tonight. We're also grateful for our school nurses. Uh our school nurses are just amazing and fantastic. Uh we are blessed and fortunate in this district to have a good number of nurses to take care of our students uh when they need them most. And so we're thankful for that. We also are excited about teacher appreciation week. Uh we're celebrating our teachers. They are they are jewels in our system. Uh they are the leaders um in our schools and we're so grateful uh to have uh 1700 uh certified teachers in this district doing the work every day. Uh and that brings me to to my point of uh what I really want to say. You know, public education uh over many
040years um has always changed and it has always evolved. Uh but the one consistent uh in public education has been our teachers. They always know how to stand tall and represent the children they serve and stand in the trenches and do the work. The other consistent are school leaders and principles and staff, bus drivers, child nutrition. They always stand up tall and represent our students. And I think one of the third most are schoolboard members who love on the teachers, love the children, and they sit at a table to make decisions that's always in the best interest of every single child. And they continue with our teachers to stand tall for every student. And I want to thank our board members for standing tall for all 24,000 students in our district as well as our
041teachers as well as our principles and leaders, child nutrition, bus drivers, that despite the changes and how education continues to evolve, we have folks who will stand tall for every single child in public education. So I want to thank our board. Mr. Chair, this concludes my comments. Thank you. We begin with our board starting with Miss Dr. Hot. Um, so I I really do want to thank people who came and took the time with public comment. Um, when I was asked to run for board, um, this was very important to me and it continues to be very important to me and we do have to make tough decisions, but we really, really, really appreciate hearing from everybody in our community the impacts of those decisions and continue to come and talk to us and tell
042us um, all children are important and matter and frankly I'm, you know, Miss Carson, I could barely really keep it together because those are the reasons Miss Carson and Kennedy are the reasons why we sit here and we do what we do, you know, to protect our kids, to ensure they have safe places to learn and to grow. Um, and to honor our teachers and I wish we can continue to do more for them every day, but this is just one week that I'm so excited to celebrate who they are and what they do and and as well as our school nurses. Uh, we have so many things to be thankful for. I have been to more school musicals. I am so impressed with the talent in Pit County. I cannot stand it. It is
043so great. My son did technical sound for one. So, the show was here and I'm watching my my son up there. But, um, but it was just inspiring to hear these kids get up there um and to watch the parents and the rooms just filled with pride. So, thank you to the students and the teachers and the parents who who pour into the arts um for our South Central Special Olympics. They were chosen by Greenville Park and Wreck as a specialized recreation committee. I am so excited for them. South Central also have capturing kids hearts. They got the rising star recognition award. Big things happening at South Central. Very proud of that school. uh was really excited that our legislators came and sat with us and talked with us as a board and they they
044talked about tough things and we talked about tough things and so we continue to try and push and fight for as much as we can to support our teachers and our schools and we will continue to promise to do that um and definitely hold us accountable. Um some good things coming up all the graduations those are amazing. Ag Cox has a fashion show on the 8th at six o'clock. big thing need to go. Um, also please contact some of your schools, your middle schools in particular, if they need EOG proctors. Um, we desperately do need them and I've seen several schools have been putting stuff out on social media. So, if you're not sure if a school needs help or support, you can reach out to us at central office, but we're excited to see
045people just rise up and and invest in the schools. Congratulations to the CTE students. That's amazing, too. fourth time winning small chapter which is just a testimony to all the teachers and the faculty and students and the parents. So anyway, I'm grateful to be here. Continue to be here if you need to reach out to me if you have things you need to say. I'm always willing to listen. Thank you, Kelly. I feel so um empowered and um really heartened being here tonight. Um, and especially for from our public comments and just being surrounded and in a room of people that support public education and are wanting to fight with us to serve our students and um it just it feels really good to be here tonight with everybody and um and and as we're
046standing up for our students um and fighting for all of them. I had somebody ask me not long ago what's changed for me in my advocacy and you know what what I've learned since being on the board. And what I told them was you can't not advocate for these students and teachers if when you see them when you're when you're with them when you show up. And so, um, I love I I love our teachers and, um, our schools, and I love being there because when you're there, you see the reality of what's happening and not just hear what people think is happening. So, I would really encourage you this week especially, but every week to to show up in your school, in your local school where your children go, proctor, um serve on a
047PTA or PTO, um help your teacher in the classroom. The kids are are feral right now. They are they are losing their minds because it's the end of the year and it's hot and everybody wants to play. I know that because mine are. Um, so I when you show up and you see the work that's happening in our schools, um, and when you build relationships with these teachers who are loving and serving our students, you can't not fight for them. Um, I am so honored that I've had the opportunity to build relationships um, as a parent first and then as a board member because um, you just you can't not fight for these people that are loving our children so hard and serving them so deeply. Um, and that's not just um the teachers that
048showed up here today, also our international teachers that we got to celebrate this weekend who are um truly here because they love education and they love our students. And it is a beautiful thing to see how um how educators are sacrificing for our babies and our students here. Um, so thank you to all of our international teachers and for um Clinton Todd for um celebrating them this this um past weekend. Um and there's so many things I can say because as much work as we have to do and as frustrating as sometimes it is for us to have to work within this system that feels like it's constraining us from some of the things we really want to be doing. Um there's so many good things happening and um innovation and things that our teachers
049are doing to work around these challenges we're noticing such as technology use and um and so I encourage you to show up um and support our teachers. Um they are amazing. Thank you Amanda. Good evening. Um so first uh I want to thank all the people who showed up tonight, people who are watching. Your engagement matters. Um, I also want to thank our public comments. Um, it Dr. Ford, um, I am so glad that our public school system is serving your child and I'm glad you found a place here. That is what public education is about. It's serving every single child. Um, and as to the concerns of uh, Mr. Chan, did I get that name right? Tan, thank you. And Miss Jackson, um, I agree with you. Um, we do need to support the
050needs and the backgrounds of every student in our system. And I know that we have been constrained uh with certain policies and having to revise them. But I can assure you that our teachers and our staff are going to give students the same amount of care and respect um even, you know, without these policies being there. Um but we are we are saddened by those things as well. Um so I also just wanted to say a little bit about teacher appreciation week. Um this week you'll have PTAs and PTOs across the county planning all these wonderful surprises for our teachers. Um and these gestures definitely make our teachers feel appreciated and uh full have full bellies. Um, but there's something else you can do for teacher appreciation week that will show your teachers how much
051you appreciate them. And that is call your representatives and advocate for teacher raises. Um, tell them what your teachers mean to you and why they are key to ensuring our state continues to produce the doctors who care for us, the engineers who build our roads, the law enforcement who keeps us safe, and of course, more teachers. Um, after you call those representatives, you can call your county commissioners and advocate for supplemental funds to boost teacher salaries. And please don't forget about the federal government. Um, we need the Department of Education to stay open because remember the Department of Education does so many things, but Title One, which provides money to help districts that serve low-income communities, many of which are in Pit County, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provides money to help
052districts serve students with disabilities, which we've heard about the the benefits of that this evening. So, um, demand that this vital institution remain intact and fully funded. Uh, and given the excitement in the room, um, and advocacy, I am I know that y'all are going to do that. So, thank you for coming out tonight. Thank you, Ben. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I am so glad that you got the opportunity to recognize the nurses, Mr. Chairman, and for what you said. They hold a special place in your heart. And I assure you that those nurses and nurse extenders hold a a special place in my heart and all the hearts of the board members here in Pit County. And they do a tremendous job and I I've grown to love and respect all
053of the responsibilities that they have. And in any way that I can continue to encourage it, uh the um the support of that, I'm going to one of the best ways you can do it is put a little R beside the name of the budget item. And Dr. Ler, I understand that the nurses have a R beside their name, which means recurring, and that's a good thing. So, I did want to say that. Uh it's that time of year again. It's the barbecue circuit. and all career technical education student organizations will be having banquetss or at least most of them and I think I've been invited to every one of them. So I'm looking forward to going to them and eating a lot of barbecue and barbecue chicken and all the fixings that go along
054with it and watch all the awards that happen. you know, just about 92 93% of every high school student that we have, high school and middle student that we have are members of some organization in career technical education. So, I'm very, very excited and proud that Pit County is part of that. We'd be remiss if we didn't say again how important our teachers are, and I'm glad there's a teacher appreciation week for that. uh a teacher or teachers are one reason why I chose the profession that I did and I'll never forget them and the impact that they had on my lives and the impact that they have uh on uh so many lives in this county and in this community and every one of you that are sitting there tonight I'm sure can think
055of a teacher that would had a special role in where you are today that we can reach out and thank them. One of the ways that we can do it tangibly is uh Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. We uh we always advocate for that local supplement. Oh, man. I'm not going to have time to talk about everything I want to say, but that local supplement is important and continuing to support that. Our classified staff uh is very important that we do that. And then last but not least, um Dr. Laster, I would appreciate it. Uh appreciate Miss Anderson's speaking tonight, being here representing Moms for Liberty, which is a a new parent group that is doing tremendous things in our county. And I I believe at the next workshop it I would love to see us
056talk about the uh cursive writing and how we do those types of things here in Pit County with Pit County Schools. Thank you, Vary. Thank you, Chairman. And I um first of all, good evening and I have a motto, children first, one child at a time. As an educator, I believe in that. So, I'd like to begin by saying happy teachers appreciation week. Um our educators, you are appreciated. Even though you do not receive the pay you deserve, the impact you make on our children is everlasting. Thank you again and happy teacher appreciation week. I'd like to do a special shout out to um some teachers and the reason for this is um doc uh Miss Newman from Amherst Elementary School. Not Miss Newman, I'm sorry, Miss um Sims from Eastern Elementary School. Thank you
057because she's our teacher of the year. Last week, we had an opportunity to celebrate our principles. Principal, thank you for your leadership in our schools. I'd like to do a special um thanks to South Green principal Miss Coverton, Pit County Early College Principal, Mr. Lean Jacin, J Rose High School principal, Dr. Nidra Jenkins, I mean Jones, and Ridgewood principal, believe me, I know her name. I just I just read a line ahead. Uh and Richwood principal Dr. um Kirby Manis. Um, last week I got an opportunity to send every principal in our system a thank you and happy uh, principal appreciation day. And it was good to get their little notes back because you can tell that some of them really appreciate it. I also like to say congratulations to all that receive awards this
058evening, especially a middle school and those students. And congratulation to our principal scholars, our principal fellows, and happy nurse appreciation week. Thank you. Thank you, Amy. I guess going last always has um guess pros and cons. So, a lot a lot has already been said um that I had written down as well, but I do want to thank those that came out tonight um to speak. It does it's it does us wonders to hear positive things from our community members um and feedback of the good things that they're seeing. So, we know that if people get in the schools and they actually make themselves a part of our community, then they can see truly what's happening in our schools instead of what they're maybe hearing or seeing. that's whether it's a national agenda or whatever
059you may see, but it's just good to hear of the positives from all that. So, I really do appreciate all the people that came out to speak tonight. And as we've all said, teacher appreciation week is a great week. It's a time to Well, just tell me a round of applause. I know, right? It's just a time to get in there and really thank the teachers for all they've done. And if you have children in the school system, you know how hard they work and you can see it every day. Um, I have one that's graduating in a couple weeks and I'm not ready at all and it I've talked to all his teachers along the way and they've all been sending little messages to him and it just it warms your heart to see
060that they remember how he was when he was a kindergartener and they they walk through him through all this time and it's just it just touches your heart. So, just make sure you let your teachers know how much they're appreciated because it goes a long way when you when you do such sometimes a thankless, you know, profession. Sometimes it's just nice to hear that people appreciate what you do. So, just thank the teachers. Thank you. Thank you. Where I also would like to thank the school nurse uh nurses in our schools. I know prior to many of you being on the board, Benji and I had to fight hard so that there would not be a reduction in the number of school nurses because that was an item that was coming up to reduce the
061number of school nurses. And I think we as a board, we got to stand together when we hear that, hey, we're going to have we're going to lose some school nurses because the thing about it is a child can't learn if they don't feel good, if they're not healthy. And many of the many of the parents, they just don't have the means and so forth to do a lot of things to help take care of these children that for example I know of a child who was just about going to be repeat his grades and it was because he couldn't read. He was having problems reading but you know what the problem was? He needed glasses. kid got glasses this year is performing well. So that's why school nurses are so important. And um another
062thing in regards to our teacher for teacher appreciation week, we as a board's got to continue to increase the supplement for our teachers. we do not need to be behind any surrounding county uh within that touch our borders. Um and I hope that county commissioner sees the importance of that and the importance of supplements and we got to continue to uh increase them. I also know that uh teaching is not all about money. teachers sometimes get in those uh classrooms and they leave because the environment is so bad they don't go to school. They they say they cry every day before if they've got to go to school. I think we as a board and as the superintendent um I think he's on board also that we try to do all we can to have
063a healthy environment within that class, a good learning environment to where discipline issues, bullying is taken care of on the spot. It's not something that we need to let go on and on and on. And I know the times that I've called um Dr. Lasser about an issue within a classroom, he's taken care of it and I appreciate that. But I think our board has got to demand that that happens within our system. Um and we need good we need our administrators to support those teachers also. Uh because they they are a wonderful aspect And that's what makes America. Thank you. Preach. Thank you all board members for your comments. Going last. I will not repeat everything that have been said, but I do want to thank Beth for her organizing our legislative and county
064commissioners tour. uh our six listening sessions at our high school attendance area which were very well attended and I believe they were very productive. Uh we believe that the road ahead looked very promising for our PE County schools. Thank you to our senator Candace Smith, Representative Glorine Brown, and Dr. Rita for attending our legislative lunchon. Uh, I too appreciate all of our teachers and nurses for their love, compassion, and commitment to their profession and to all of our schools, to our students, and to our staff. I really enjoy the child nutrition spotlight on success banquet the other night. They really are good people providing a good service to all our schools. Uh back in the day uh we had real good food and today you know the government said we got to have nutritional food
065and I thank the staff for trying to make the nutritional food real good food and I appreciate all that they do. We at the board appreciate uh our Carol ranking for all that she do for us. Thank you Carol so much. And if any of you would like to support our superintendent and some of us, uh, we will be meeting with the county commissioners on Wednesday morning at 8:30. We ask for your support. Uh, we want the best for our students here in Pit County. Uh, we want to go to the commissioners uh, plead our case for all the students and staff of Pit County. So, if you would would like to come and support our superintendent and us, uh, please come and support him on Wednesday morning 8:30 at our county commissioners meeting. Thank
066you again for coming out tonight. Thank all of those who spoke on tonight and we do take what you say very seriously and we do look into things and just know that your concerns are being addressed. We have a wonderful board. This board is talked about a lot throughout the state, how well we get along and how well we work with our superintendent. Uh some of the superintendents are jealous of the relationship that the superintendent have with us, but this is because we all love and care about the students and staff of PE County. We all have our own districts and I love North of the River, but we all work for the betterment of all our districts. So again, thank you for coming on tonight. At this time, we have a motion to adjourn.
067So move. So move second. Second. Any discussion? Anybody want to stay? Yeah, I thought it all in favor raise your right hand. Motion carried. We are journ. Thank you.